Record-breaking penthouse sale in Melbourne
A penthouse in Melbourne has broken the record for the most expensive sold in the city. The apartment will top the Australia 108 development at Southbank and has been sold to a Chinese buyer for $25 million. That works out at $33,000 per square foot. It far exceeds the city’s previous record of $18.2 million in 2008. A sale price of $25 million was recently achieved in Sydney but that was for 2 apartments; however the NSW capital could soon smash even these lofty price tags with a penthouse at the Crown Sydney development predicted to hit $100 million.

Brisbane suburb a good buy if you’re quick
Coopers Plains in Brisbane is being hailed by real estate agents as being the next suburb to boom. While neighbouring Salisbury and Sunnybank have already seen prices rise to levels unaffordable for many first-home buyers, in Coopers Plains a mortgage of around $500,000 would get you a decent sized property with CoreLogic RP Data showing a median price of $460,000.

Interest rate freeze may be better for buyers
Lower mortgage and interest rates are always good news for buyers aren’t they? Not necessarily, according to a report from the Domain Group. It highlights the case of Parnel McAdam, a young lawyer looking to buy a small house in Sydney’s inner-west. He’s found that the lower home loan repayments have brought more potential buyers to the auctions, making the competition fierce and pushing prices even higher. McAdam has been forced to return to his mortgage lender twice already to increase the amount he can borrow as prices keep increasing faster than he can find a house. He says if interest rates are kept on hold it should keep the market more stable.

Aussie consumer confidence at 8-month low
Confidence of consumers in the Australian economy fell to its lowest point for eight months according to ANZ-Roy Morgan data. Their index was down 2.3 per cent with the sub-index on ‘buying a large household item’ down 4.6 per cent. Confidence in household finances was down 2.8 per cent. Concern over job security is one of the main factors in the reduced overall confidence in the economy.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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